Spy siblings put self-esteem into focus

After hours of practice, your son finally tames his squeaky clarinet—and secures a solo in the upcoming band concert. As the performance nears, he sounds perfect in practice, but gets scared he'll squeak during his solo. Before the show, you worry that his focus on stage fright will sabotage his debut.

If your kids have trouble at times believing in themselves, the new film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over can help them realize their true potential. After the movie, do our family activity, “Eye-Spy,” to bring the lesson to life.

The latest Spy Kids sequel features Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), a pint-sized private eye on a mission to rescue his sister, Carmen (Alexa Vega), from the clutches of the sinister Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). Juni must journey inside a virtual reality video game that literally imprisons the imaginations of players who hit the highest level. Juni must save his sister and shut down the game before it takes over the minds of kids everywhere.

Upon entering virtual reality, Juni meets a band of teenage test subjects who are stuck in the game and are searching for “The Guy”—the boy destined to help them win. The boys soon realize heroic Juni is The Guy. But Juni, unable to see himself as the chosen one, must look inside to see whether he has what it takes to be their leader.

Family Activity: Eye-Spy

You don't need to be a family of secret agents to uncover uncertainties. Help your kids create their own Eye-Spy glasses to detect ways to combat self-doubt.

Share!

Together, talk about Juni's doubts when the teenage testers first thought he was The Guy. Discuss times when your children let their insecurities get in the way of enjoying adventures. Perhaps a fear of spiders put a scary spin on their first trip to summer camp.

Talk about w hy it was important for Juni to have confidence in himself to accomplish his mission. Point out why it is better to focus on your strengths rather than your fears. Ask your kids to think of some examples of when they succeeded because they concentrated on their strengths.
 

Play!

Materials needed:
Old sunglasses
Red dry-erase marker
Other colored markers
Decorations such as tiny stickers, glitter or nail polish

Using a red dry-erase marker, have your children color both lenses of a pair of glasses, leaving a small circular eyehole on each lens. When they put on their glasses, ask them to look around and remember as many circular or red objects as they can find.

When they're through spying on their surroundings, have your kids close their eyes. Although they were searching for red and circular objects, add a twist: ask them how many triangular or yellow objects they remember.

Odds are, they won't remember too many yellow or triangular things because they were so focused on red and circles. Share how this is like when we focus on fears of failure, we lose sight of our strengths. Wipe off the lenses.

Together, think of an upcoming situation where your kids might need a boost of confidence. Perhaps your children are nervous because they are about to start at a new school. Decorate the glasses with words, pictures and other items that will help your children see themselves in a positive frame of mind. Is your son a great sport at recess? Write “team player” on the glasses.

As the big day approaches, have your children pull out the glasses when their fears creep up. The colorful glasses will remind them to focus on their strengths they need to succeed . They will learn, just like Juni, that sometimes seeing is believing…in yourself!

copyright © 2004 Cinematters